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Sunday, 20 May 2018

Introducing Whamisa - Natural Sheet Masks

A couple of weeks ago I got my first ever delivery of Whamisa* products. Four different sheet masks, courtesy of sooyou.ch, a Swiss online shop which imports Korean cosmetics. Whamisa is a Korean skincare brand which does research on how to include and preserve natural ingredients in their products. One of their processes to do so is natural fermentation. The products are organic and 100% natural, contain no parabens, silicones or mineral oils and they aren't tested on animals. Sounds good so far?

I've tested three of their Hydrogel Masks and their Organic Real Kelp Sheet Mask. Something I noticed instantly, besides the cute design of the packaging, is that these sheet masks fit better than any other sheet mask I've tried before. Why is that? My face is quite small and these masks come in two parts which aren't too wide so they're the right size for my face. Yay! The first mask I've put on was the Organic Real Kelp Sheet Mask with the real kelp sheet. Be warned, it smells real, too! I didn't know what kelp is (bear in mind, English isn't my mother tongue) but I thought it's funny how this mask looks like algae and smells like algae. Well, after taking a look in the dictionary, I obviously knew why... The real kelp sheet mask contains 32 natural ingredients to make your skin look healthy and youthful. It claims to reduce wrinkles, puffiness and to minimise pores while brightening and improving your complexion. Anything else we could ask for? Oh well, and it hydrates the skin. Even though kelp doesn't sound like the most appealing scent to me, it actually smells very relaxing because it's mixed with white tea and I looove tea! When I used the sheet mask, all my skin needed at that moment was a bit of hydration. At first, the mask felt soothing on the skin, then I noticed a cooling effect and a tingly feeling. My skin got the hydration I asked for and a relaxing experience during the 15 minutes I've had the mask on my face, due to its scent. The residue of the mask is bright yellow so I kind of feared it would leave yellow marks on my skin if I don't remove it but that didn't happen, all good. Make sure to store the mask in the shade or even the fridge, heat may damage the ingredients.

The Hydrogel Masks come in two pieces and look like some sort of solid gel. You can easily see your normal skin underneath, which makes me look pretty creepy so I'm not going to show you a picture of me wearing one of them. However, this must be the most comfortable mask to wear because its texture makes the mask sit on your face like a second skin. The Organic Fruits Hydrogel Mask contains a whole fruit salad on the picture below and some tomatoes, all fermented. It's a lifting, revitalizing and toning mask with a fresh herbal scent. This is dedicated to balance sebum and tightening the pores. Once applied, you can hardly feel anything but after a while there's the same cooling effect as with the Facial Mask Pack and this is a sensation all the masks have in common. The residue is slightly sticky but easy to massage into the skin. After using this hydrogel mask, I was able to notice a slight difference: my pores were less visible, I guess that's a win!

The second mask with naturally fermented ingredients was the Organic Flowers Hydrogel Mask. Again, this has a relaxing, herbal but kind of sweet flowery scent. It contains lotus flower extracts, dandelion root, chrysanthemum and green tea. This mask has a whitening effect so please make sure to protect your skin from the sun after using it. If your skin needs a bit of extra moisture, this is the one I'd go for. It takes a bit of attention to apply the mask, there's a lot of liquid in the packaging and the mask is a bit hard to grab because it's slimy. But you know, the moisture has to come from somewhere...

The last mask I've tried was the one I didn't have high expectations on as my skin is still young and its main effect is to reduce wrinkles and lift the skin. However, this little product blew my mind! The fermented Organic Seeds and Rice Hydrogel Mask contains rice and oats. Doesn't sound too special. Nevertheless, the effect was instantly visible even on non-wrinkly skin. After a 20-minute application, I looked like someone took great care at making my skin look its absolute best, relaxed, plump, even and smooth. I've tested a lot of face mask during the last years and I've hardly ever been wowed like this by a product before. From now on, this is going to be my secret (or now not so secret anymore) weapon for when I didn't have enough sleep and need to trick people into thinking I'm perfectly fit.

So what's the bottom line of my first experience with Whamisa? I enjoyed every single one of the four masks as they're easy to apply, comfortable and they all have a positive effect on my skin. The one thing I'm not particularly happy about but which is common with all sheet masks is the amount of waste they produce. There's the sheet for once but also the plastic packaging. Even though I like the idea of sheet masks, because they're usually less messy to apply than a common face mask, I much prefer to buy the normal ones' due to the waste issue.

The sheet masks are all packed individually. One Facial Mask Pack costs CHF 16, the Hydrogel Masks are CHF 12 each. I'd really recommend trying the Organic Seeds one, it was nominated for annabelle prix de beauté 2017 and considering the great effect, it's a real bargain. I'm intrigued to try other products from Whamisa. Do you have any recommendations?